Our Promise (at the Space Station)
by winterune
Summary: An AU set in a distant future. Natural disasters, famine, plagues have spread across the Earth. It won't be long until the planet becomes inhabitable. As they wait for news of a new habitable planet somewhere in space, Saeyoung joined a group of scientists developing a virtual world program. Years later, Saeyoung is one of the lead programmers and the program is almost complete.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: AU set in a distant future. At the beginning, this was inspired by the Reset Theory. But then in its planning, it became a story of its own. And well, it's still a first draft so it may have changes in the future. And the title is also still a temporary title.

Feedback/Reviews are much appreciated. Thanks for reading^^

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He had been watching them for years—his friends, his family. Living a life in another world, a dream world, free from war and famine and disasters. And he was there with them, among them, with another name, another life. And no one knew. No one remembered. But him.

 **~ O ~**

 **Chapter 1**

 _el…_

 _Luciel…_

 _Wake up…_

 _Wake up, Luciel…_

 _Wake u—_

 **~ O ~**

"Yo! Are you not going to listen to me? I told you to wake up!"

A pair of hands pulled the blanket off him and a sudden gush of cool air hit his bare arms.

Luciel jerked awake.

"Wha—?"

"It's six and you need to go to your shift." Luciel, still bleary-eyed, could only make out the figure of a man standing before his bunk. Shoulder-length brown hair. A scowl on his face. Vanderwood.

 _Ah! Shut up!_ He fell back on his back and covered his face with his pillow. "Just give me five more minutes."

"Your five minutes can turn into two hours," Vanderwood countered. "Get up! You have work to do." But Luciel didn't get up. Vanderwood was quiet for a while that Luciel thought his partner might have left. But there was no sound of the sliding door and a moment later, he heard Vanderwood sigh. "Did you get inside again?"

Inside. A star-strewn sky. The scent of fresh grass. And a soft voice in his ear.

 _Wake up, Luciel_ …

His bunk shook and he jerked up violently, hit his head on the bunk above, and swore viciously, but Vanderwood didn't flinch.

"Don't make me wake you up a second time!" Vanderwood said loud and clear.

Luciel was still half-awake as he watched Vanderwood turn and leave and the automatic steel door closed behind him. His receding footsteps were the only thing Luciel heard before his partner turned around a corner and disappeared.

The room was instantly quiet. No hum of a machine. No beeping computer sounds. No sign of a girl with large brown eyes and long brown hair.

He was back in his room; he needed to remind himself that.

But the memory of a dream still clung tightly to his mind and Luciel forced the smile on her face and the sound of her laughter far away to the deepest part of his mind.

Luciel pushed himself off his bed. His room was empty, save for himself. His brother was nowhere to be found. He had probably gone to his shift before him.

So Luciel decided to go to the common bathroom to wash himself.

 **~ O ~**

The research facility had several levels. The lowest level was the station maintenance level. Above it were storages and laundries. Their sleeping quarters, cafeteria, all sorts of recreational spaces, and a medical bay were divided into two levels. The second to highest level consisted of computer rooms, programming rooms, meeting rooms, and all sorts of labs. The highest level was where they housed their hibernating test subjects—a vast level divided by hallways.

The cafeteria was a spacious hall filled with rows and rows of long tables. Neither Vanderwood nor his brother were there so Luciel went to the cafeteria lady by himself and got himself a portion of today's dinner: another mesh of gooey paste that had the distinct flavor of roasted chicken.

He took a seat near a TV showing news of the state of the Earth: another earthquake had just struck the East. The casualty counted to hundreds and the government was still trying to organize refugee camps and search for missing people. And then footages of the affected areas; interviews with the government, the Red Cross, and a couple of the victims.

Luciel glanced at the TV screen and tried not to let the image of the wrecked city hurt him. They needed to hurry, he thought, if they wanted to save those people before Earth swallowed them whole.

He finished his gooey dinner, handed his tray to another cafeteria lady to wash, and headed upstairs.

He took the side lift as it was closer to his office in one of the programming rooms. The door slid open; people got out; some people were still inside; and Luciel casually made his way to the ceiling-to-floor curving window and watched the endless black space speckled with silver and gold dots before the lift stopped on his floor and he and several other people got out.

 **~ O ~**

"You're late," was the first thing Vanderwood said when Luciel entered the programming room.

"Can't work with an empty stomach now, can I?" Luciel said with a grin. "Or do you want to see my desk being covered by Honey Buddha Chips and Dr. Pepper cans again?"

Vanderwood scowled. He had always hated seeing their work spaces in a mess. Back when they were still working on Earth, Luciel had experience countless times Vanderwood's nagging at him to clean up his desk. Though in the end, Vanderwood had always been the one to clean it. And Luciel never stopped him.

"Just get to work," Vanderwood muttered.

Luciel laughed.

Actually, Honey Buddha Chips and Dr. Pepper cans shouldn't be able to cover his desk since they shouldn't even be available inside the facility—food regulation and all that. But Luciel knew that Vanderwood knew he had managed to smuggle boxes of them into his room. And Luciel also knew Vanderwood never reported him.

Their programming room only consisted of three people—himself, Vanderwood, and his brother. Luciel could feel Vanderwood's eyes follow him all the way to his desk and they only left him after he took his seat, beheld all the post-its and notes stuck to his desk and computer, and opened up the program. His brother, Saeran, or Unknown as he'd given them his name, sat on the other side of the room, already busy.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Luciel asked his brother as a way of greeting.

"I did," his younger twin replied, eyes still glued to his monitor. "You didn't wake up."

"Then you should have tried harder."

"Why should I when I knew Vanderwood could wake you up easily?"

"Hey! It wasn't easy," Vanderwood exclaimed from his seat.

"He woke up, didn't he?"

"Yeah well after I got a concussion from bumping my head on your bunk," Luciel said.

"You could use a concussion once in a while, though."

"Then you'll have to answer to V if he asks why the program isn't finished," he teased.

" _If_ ," Saeran repeated. "You admit I have as much skill as you and have a chance to finish the program without you."

Luciel couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Well—"

" _Brothers!_ " Vanderwood yelled. "Please shut up and get to work."

 **~ O ~**

Luciel was one of the main programmers of a virtual world program. It had been in the making for years, long before Luciel joined the scientists' rank over seven years ago when he was only 15. It started after the first several natural disasters occurred. Back then, a natural disaster would occur every few years—earthquakes, tsunamis, volcano eruptions. There were heat waves and cold waves and more and more ice in the north and south pole melt and the sea level rose and then the soil began to fail and animals were found dead. A lot of people died. Resources were quickly spent and then famine spread everywhere. Nations went to war in order to save their people. Everything was chaos.

Then hope appeared in the form of astronauts being sent to space to find a new habitable planet. Rumor had it that the secret mission had been going on for years, even before the disasters occurred. The news of the mission was finally disclosed when war had escalated at the other side of the Earth, to give people hope that they were working on something, that hope was not all lost. Along with it was the news that they would be making a space station large enough to house at least half of the Earth's then-population.

But no news came from the astronauts that were sent to space. And after long last, the team that were tasked to build the space station formed another team led by a man called V to create something that would be their last salvation.

A virtual world. A place with no war, no conflict, no disasters, forever plentiful resource. They would be hibernated. And they would live for countless years. And they would not know.

A man in the scientists' white uniform entered the room. The grey strap around his left arm indicated that he was among those who monitored their fellow scientists who live inside the virtual world to oversee the program. They called them the Overseers.

With him were several bundles of probably more notes—the Overseers were tasked to note everything that went on inside the virtual world. Notes of improvement, notes that needed improving, notes that had too many improvements. Their goal was to create the perfect world that people who would one day live in them would want for nothing.

Luciel sighed as he beheld the size of those bundles. The man distributed the bundles to Luciel, his brother, and Vanderwood.

Luciel frowned at the bundles before him.

"Do these never stop?" he asked, flipping over the pages of the bundles.

"They won't until we complete it," Vanderwood said.

Luciel sighed dramatically and pushed the bundle away from his desk. "I'm tired!" he complained.

"It's only been three hours," Vanderwood said again.

"It _has_ been three hours."

He glanced at his brother. "Here," he said, pushing his bundle over to Saeran's desk.

"Move that one more inch and I'm going to kill you," Saeran said, taking his eyes off his own bundle to glare at him.

"Oh, come on! Help your brother for once!"

"I have my own work to finish, thank you very much."

Luciel sighed and lay his head on his desk. He could still work. His mind still had lots of power to keep him up for another twelve hours. He just didn't feel like working right now.

"Did you hear about the earthquake?" Vanderwood asked suddenly.

"Yeah," Luciel replied. "I saw the news."

"It's bad, isn't it?" Vanderwood said. "I didn't see the whole news but think about it. How long has it been since the last disaster occurred?"

"Less than a month," Saeran said.

"Yes, and I think it will only keep getting worse." Vanderwood paused. "Remember how we only had disasters every couple of years? Now disasters are occurring every other month." He shook his head. "The plants are dying. Animals are going extinct. It will be our turn next. They planet is finished."

"And that's why we're building this goddamn program, isn't it?" Luciel said. "To save everyone? So they won't forget Earth even when the planet is dead."

"Right," Vanderwood said. "So get to work!"

 **~ O ~**

It was hours later, and according to the clock, it was already past midnight. Not that midnight had any significance when you were on space. Vanderwood was sleeping on his chair and Saeran had gone to grab a midnight snack. Luciel had finished more than half of what he needed to do that day and his mind had stopped working again. He knew why. His mind kept wandering to that place. So before anyone saw him, he snuck away.

There was a deserted lab he often frequented. Among the labs the Overseers used to go inside the virtual world was one they rarely used—for some reason Luciel never knew. A perfect copy of any other lab in that facility; only, the door didn't have any sign. It consisted of two rooms: one was the monitoring room, with the computers and screens to monitor an Overseer's health and take a look inside the virtual world surrounding the Overseer; the other was the hibernating room, with a chair connected to a machine.

But it was a different kind of hibernation from what the test subjects underwent—this was a temporary hibernation that only lasted for a week, and Luciel only needed to go for a few hours at most.

He was one of the head programmers. He knew what he had to do. He had done this before, countless times.

He locked the door, though he doubted anyone would enter the room. He turned on the monitor and checked that it was still working. He set the timer for a couple of hours on the screen. He wouldn't need the hibernation shot. He would only be gone for just an hour and he'd be back.

He switched on the lamp; the second chamber shone bright white. He turned on the machine and there was that familiar hum filling his ears. Then he sat on the chair and he took the time to attach all sorts of cables on his body and his head—to monitor his heart rate, his respiratory rate, his blood pressure, his heart and brain activities, and all sorts of other medical necessities. He attached more cables that would let him enter the virtual world.

As he put the black helmet on his head, Luciel remembered why scientists had no longer used that lab anymore—it was one of the earliest ways to enter the virtual world, and it was quite painful. He had hacked into that computer's system to let him control the virtual world from inside the chamber by adding a plug and a switch. And he lay his head back and tried to relax.

Luciel clutched the switch on his hand and pressed the red button.

His body jolted as electricity from the machine flowed into his body and he gritted his teeth and shut his eyes. And then darkness fell.

 **~ O ~**

 _Rrriiiinngg!_

Luciel jerked awake.

He didn't know where he was at first. A huge room, with multiple doors. On one side was a desk and computer with additional screens attached to it. Clothes and chips and cans strewn everywhere. He was on a black sofa, wearing a black jacket with gold stripes and a red shirt.

 _Rrriiiiinngg!_

A phone kept ringing.

Beside the sofa was a low-lying table; various magazines were scattered over it. A red cell phone was vibrating and ringing.

Feeling very tired, Luciel reached out to his phone and looked at who was calling.

'Hyunsoo' appeared on the screen with a picture of a girl with long hair and brown eyes and a lovely smile that made his heart skip a beat.

A smile crept onto Luciel—no, Seven's face.

He was back.

 **~ To be Continued ~  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: the second chapter. Luciel-or Seven-enters the virtual world and meets Hyunsoo. And then...

A/N: hope you like it^^ reviews and feedback are much appreciated. thanks for reading^^

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 **Chapter 2**

Seven breathed in the cool night air. A full moon hung on the star-speckled cloudless sky. A wind breezed through the trees, making the leaves quiver in their wake. The sounds of crickets and cicadas filled the air. If he didn't know any better, Seven would believe that he was back at home.

"Seven!"

He turned around. Hyunsoo was waving at him from the park's entrance with a huge smile on her face. She was wearing a sky-blue sweater and her long hair trailed behind her as she ran toward him. Seven couldn't help but grin at her as she reached him, panting slightly.

"Did you run here from your apartment?" Seven asked.

"Well, I wanted to see you," she said nonchalantly, but still it made his pulse quickened.

"Come on. Let's get you to sit down," he said, his hand immediately going for hers before he caught himself and pulled his hand back, stashing them in his jacket pocket. He reminded himself, for the thousandth time, that this was a different life and she had no memories of him.

At the heart of the park was a gurgling fountain and Seven left her sitting on one of the benches while he went off to buy her a can of coffee from a nearby vending machine. And once he had given her the coffee and sat beside her, he asked, "So, why did you ask to meet at the wee hours of the day?"

Hyunsoo chuckled at his choice of words and it made him smile.

"I told you I wanted to see you," she replied cheekily.

Seven ignored the tingling he felt at the tips of his fingers. But he grinned broadly and said, "You already saw me this afternoon. Did my presence leave a mark on you so deep that you miss God Seven already?"

"It did."

Hyunsoo didn't elaborate. Seven knew something was wrong. No matter how separated they had been these past several years, he had lived beside her for years before that and he could tell when something was on her mind.

"What's wrong?"

"What?" Her eyes met his and for a brief moment, he was back at that hill, staring into her eyes, asking the same question, and she had stared at him, before she smiled and said—

 _Nothing's wrong_.

"Nothing's wrong, Seven."

And it was the same face, the same smile, the same voice. And he found himself not prying further.

"Oh right!" Hyunsoo exclaimed. "Zen's throwing a party."

"A party?"

"Yes! Everyone will be there. And," Hyunsoo paused. "We were kind of hoping you'd come." She hesitated when Seven didn't say anything. "You'll come, right?"

How could he say no to that face?

"When will it be?"

Hyunsoo's smile was so bright the stars would be ashamed.

"Tomorrow evening."

Good thing tomorrow was his day off.

"So you'll come?"

Seven laid back against the bench, hands in his jacket pockets. "Sure I'll come. I would never miss a showdown between Jumin and Zen. And Jumin might bring Elly so I'll get to play with her too."

Hyunsoo laughed. "You know that's not going to happen."

"He might," Seven said with a laugh. "Just to spite Zen."

"He doesn't really hate Zen."

"But Zen hates him."

"Well that's true," Hyunsoo said with a laugh.

"What's the occasion?"

"Didn't you read the messenger?"

Seven winced guiltily. "Sorry. I've been busy," he lied. Well, it was half a lie.

Hyunsoo sighed. "Zen got a new job. He wants to celebrate."

"Oh? Congratulations!" Seven exclaimed, grinning wide. "Tell him I say congrats."

Hyunsoo frowned. "You can tell him yourself tomorrow."

Another pang of guilt. Was it because he had been so busy and had entered this world less and less nowadays? Even though he still managed to find some time in-between his work to visit them, most times he could only spare a few hours at most.

"Oh right, I guess I can."

They both fell silent. Seven was used with silence. With her, it was usually a comfortable silence. They could sit for hours side-by-side without saying a word and it wouldn't be awkward. But Seven could feel Hyunsoo was burning with questions.

She didn't ask though.

Seven walked her back to her apartment. They talked about trivial things. He would make jokes and she would laugh.

They stopped in front of her door and she was about to say goodbye when Seven said, "You could've just texted me, you know, if you only wanted to tell me about Zen's party."

"I called you but you didn't pick up," she said. She tried to be nonchalant but there was a mixture of accusation and concern in her voice, not at all like the kind you'd feel from being stood up. Seven had a feeling it had something to do with what she had wanted to say. But Hyunsoo smiled before he could say anything and added, "I know you're busy and I was afraid you wouldn't see my text." As if to cover the hurt she'd felt. "And I already told you I wanted to see you, right?"

"Right," Seven said, unable to form any other words. He felt guilty again, and he didn't know why.

"Anyway, thanks for meeting me. See you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," Seven said with a nod.

He thought it was the sign he should leave but Hyunsoo kept staring at him in that way of hers that always made his pulse quickened.

He had only opened his mouth to ask, "What?" when she reached up and brushed her lips against his cheek.

Seven's heart stopped.

Hyunsoo smiled. "That's a promise. I gave you a kiss so you have to come tomorrow."

She didn't even let him say anything before disappearing behind the door to her apartment.

 **~ O ~**

Seven woke up. And for a moment he didn't know where he was. Blinding white light everywhere that he thought he was in heaven.

That is, until his eyes adjusted to the brightness and he saw the small circular chamber.

His hour was spent. Good thing he had made it back to his house in time.

As Luciel took off the cables and tidied the place, the ghost of a kiss still lingered on his cheek. It had been a surprise—a shock, more likely—and it had rooted him to the spot for a long while that he had to remind himself that he needed to get back. He touched his cheek. A smile played across his lips. It was a feather-light kiss and it still shook him to his core.

Luciel shut the machine down and switched off the lamps. He went back to his office with a smile on his face—he couldn't stop smiling no matter how hard he tried—and began working until daylight nonstop.

Vanderwood asked where he had been when he entered their office but stopped when he saw Luciel's huge smile. Neither Vanderwood nor Saeran asked anything after that. At the very least, meeting Hyunsoo that night sped up his performance. Even if they figured out where he had been, could they really complain when going in there without permission and unsupervised had improved his work?

 **~ O ~**

His shift ended that morning.

He had breakfast with his brother as Vanderwood had somewhere else to go first.

"Save me a seat," Vanderwood had said before running off somewhere.

So they did—took their seat on their usual place by the windows overlooking the endless black space and a TV screen hanging from the ceiling, and saved a seat for Vanderwood.

Luciel was rambling about their virtual world program and how he thought it was almost ready and Saeran just sit there, listening quietly as he ate his meal. Luciel wondered out loud what it would feel like living inside the virtual world for the rest of their life as they waited to arrive at the habitable planet.

"Did you meet her?" Saeran asked out of the blue, cutting across Luciel's words.

The surprise at the sudden question made Luciel speechless for a few moments. Saeran waited for him to answer.

"What are you talking about?" Luciel asked when he regained his bearing.

"Don't play dumb," Saeran said without taking his eyes off his breakfast. When Luciel still didn't give him the answer he wanted, Saeran added, "We've known for a while where you always disappear to at times."

Luciel pursed his lips.

"I noticed first," Saeran went on, lowering his voice. "Because every time you got back from your brief disappearances, you always have this look on your face—a look that I haven't seen for a long while."

Saeran looked up and met Luciel's eyes. They were twins. They had the same posture, the same face, the same hair. They would have had the same gold amber eyes, if Saeran hadn't gone and used contact lenses so people wouldn't mistake them anymore. And with those eyes, Luciel felt rooted to the spot.

"It was a look you always have every time you were with her."

There was silence. Luciel didn't deny nor confirm it. After a while, Saeran shifted his gaze back to his food.

"Though I could be wrong," he said.

Luciel sighed. "What do you want me to say?"

"It's not safe, Hyung," his brother said, "for you to go alone unsupervised. What if something happened?"

Luciel grinned. "Are you worried about me?"

Saeran, annoyed, frowned. "Is it weird for me to be worried about my own brother?"

Luciel's grin widened. "Aww~ Saeran~"

Saeran shuddered and held a hand in front of him. "Stop!" he exclaimed. "Before you start getting all mushy at me, let me just tell you that those were Vanderwood's words, not mine."

"What's that you said about me?" came Vanderwood's voice. Both brothers looked up as the man took the seat they'd saved for him.

"My brother said you were worried about me," Luciel said with a teasing grin.

Vanderwood's disgusted look was priceless and he shot a glare at Saeran. "What's that you said about me?" he repeated with an ominous smile.

Saeran, however, wasn't affected, and he just shrugged. Vanderwood shifted his gaze at Luciel and lifted an eyebrow in question.

Luciel smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"For God's sake, Luciel, whatever he told you ain't true," Vanderwood said.

Luciel laughed. "It's okay if it isn't true," he said after a while. A smile lingered on his face as he looked at his plate of half-eaten toast. "Thank you." His voice was quiet and neither of his companions heard.

Though he had been up all night, Luciel didn't feel tired, and after they finished their breakfast, he found himself walking toward the monitoring room—one level above his office. He was a bit irritated that the monitoring room was never empty. Because that meant he wasn't free to do what he wanted. Also, there was no spare empty room with a spare computer that he could use to monitor the virtual world and the people inside, so in the end he always had to let one of the scientists to rest as he took over his work for a while.

Luciel found the scientist he meant, black haired and a few years older in his uniform, staring at the monitor before him with half-closed eyes. He had rested his cheek on his hand once upon a time, and he was dozing peacefully with how his head bobbed up and down.

"Hey!" Luciel called, startling the scientist with a hand on his shoulder.

The scientist jumped—literally jumped—out of his chair, his back straight, and shouted, "Sir, yes, Sir!"

Luciel bit down on the laughter that almost escaped his lips. He cleared his throat and said, in a deep voice, "Duty report, Sergeant."

"Yes, sir, there's—"

The scientist stopped short, a confused look in his eyes, before he blinked once, twice, thrice, and—

"Luciel?"

"Aww… You're awake?" Luciel couldn't hide his disappointment.

The scientist blinked several more times before he looked around, at the monitoring room, at his desk and the monitors showing footages shifting from landscapes to cityscapes, and another listing data and graphics of South Korea's population and demographics.

"Morning, Jay," Luciel said with a smirk, as a way of greeting as Jay the scientist's brown eyes fixed on him again.

"I fell asleep, didn't I?" Jay asked, as he stifled a yawn.

"And you woke up too soon before I could do something about it," Luciel said with a teasing frown.

Jay scowled as he stretched his arms and body. "Good thing I woke up before you _did_ something about it." He glanced at his watch. "God, it's only eight-thirty?"

"Yes, time moves so slow when all you do is watch a monitor filled with numbers and words and people's boring lives."

Jay crossed his arms. "For your information, I find watching people's daily lives to be fascinating."

"So fascinating that you fell asleep only after one and a half hour of your shift?" Luciel replied with a raised eyebrow.

Jay, however, didn't falter. "So what do you want?"

Luciel shrugged. "I'd thought to help you on your job since you seemed to be so tired, but I guess you find it to be so enjoyable you don't need to take a break for an hour or two."

"Make it three," Jay said without hesitation.

Luciel sighed. "Fine. God, you have no mercy on your friend who had just gotten back from a night shift."

Jay smirked. "Well, no one asked you to help me on my job." He grasped Luciel's shoulder, then, and dug his fingers through Luciel's clothes. "But please don't mess anything. If I find something missing or even an inch out of place when I'm back, I'm dragging you to the higher-ups. I'm not going to explain myself for the mess you make again."

His features were casual, but his fingers dug hard and deep and Luciel knew his friend was serious. Not that he would have a problem with explaining himself for it. Heck, even if he did mess with something and was asked to put everything back in place, it would probably only take him half an hour—at the most. But Jay was his friend—the first friend he made once he was recruited as this facility's programmer—so Luciel nodded.

He held up a hand and said, "I promise I will not mess with anything."

But Jay had caught the playful undertone in his voice, and his friend could only sigh. He let go of Luciel and scratched his head. "Sometimes, I don't know what to do with you."

Luciel grinned. "Thank you."

"That's not a compliment." Jay sighed. "Fine, I'll be back in three hours, okay?"

He didn't wait for Luciel's reply before he left and Luciel sat down on Jay's seat and faced one of the side monitors on his desk. With a quick work, he already managed to push aside Jay's work to his central monitor and access the CCTV feeds that showed the perfect replica of his city. With another quick work, he found Hyunsoo's apartment complex, accessed that apartment's CCTV feeds, and found the ones around her apartment.

He divided the screen into four CCTV feeds: the hall outside the apartment, just inside the apartment, the living room that also showed the door to the bedroom if he tried to move the camera around, and the kitchen. He immediately found her in the living room, sitting on her couch, typing on her phone. She would sometimes smile and laugh and Luciel knew she was chatting with the rest of the gang in the messenger app he had built for them a couple years ago. It brought a smile to his face.

A couple years…

Had it been that long since he started sneaking into the virtual world? He remembered the first time Hyunsoo appeared at the facility—roughly three years ago? His heart always had the tendency to stop at something that involved her, but at that time…

He couldn't describe what he was feeling. His heard had stopped dead and all he could think was that this facility wasn't a place for someone like her—someone so bright and cheery, someone who had a future.

"They asked for volunteers, so I volunteered," she had said when he had confronted her about it.

"I'm asking you _why_?" Luciel had asked, irritation and worry lining his every features.

She crossed her arms as she said, "Because I want to, that's why. Besides, Yoosung came."

"Don't tell me you came because Yoosung came."

Hyunsoo frowned. "No, he came because I came."

The frown had been cute and it had made his heart skip a beat— _damn his traitorous heart_ —but Luciel had held a firm stance. He sighed through his nose. "Do you know who the test subjects are?" He tried to reason with her. "Homeless people, people with no family, criminals with death sentences—basically anyone who has no future."

"So?"

"So?!" Luciel couldn't believe this girl. He gripped her shoulders and shook her. "Have some common sense! This place isn't for someone with a bright future as you!"

Hyunsoo's frown deepened. "For one thing, Sae—"

"Luciel," he corrected her.

Hyunsoo sighed. "For one thing, Luciel, I decide what place is for me," she said, extricating herself from his grip. "And for another thing,"—she looked at his eyes and smiled—"Do you remember our promise?"

Luciel's face went red instantly when he recalled that promise he had made before V recruited him.

"This way, you'll be able to keep it."

And that had been the end of it. There had been no way of talking her out of it. Not that she would be allowed to leave the place, but Luciel knew he could somehow persuade V to find her some other work to do. A cook would have been nice. Hyunsoo was a good cook. And it would have been nice to eat her cooking once in a while.

They had been developing the final stages of the program and it featured something new. The program was almost complete and one of the final touches was to see how the subjects would fare inside the virtual world with no memory of their real life in the real world.

And her memories were wiped as she entered hibernation. And he would sometimes watch her live her new life through Jay's monitor like he did now. And he watched how she met Kim Yoosung again, and Zen the stage actor, and Han Jumin the corporate heir, and Kang Jaehee, Jumin's chief secretary.

 **~ To be Continued ~**


End file.
